Welcome, welcome! I am so so happy you are all here. I am actually traveling for work today so please don’t think I am rude if I am not immediately responsive! I am off to put the X in X Factor…see that, I am getting cheesy right off the bat! If any of you fancy yourselves a singer and live in SF we can have coffee at Cow Palace…doesn’t that sound inviting? But I digress….

Today is a very special day as I have the wonderful opportunity to welcome a community of women who I so respect and admire. The community is called SITS and it stands for ‘The Secret to Success is Support!” When I first started blogging a year ago, those of you who were here with me on this journey knew I was wounded and trying to find a way to heal as we navigated a new path that we had no idea we would be on and really weren’t clear on mile markers or even the destination. Never one to do anything just half, I looked for places to grow and nurture my blog, and I stumbled onto the SITS website. As soon as I arrived I knew it was a special place. Is is not only dedicated to helping bloggers through information sharing, conferences and expert posts, but it also is dedicated facilitating support for bloggers from all walks of life. And since we all know I LOVE warmth and support, it felt like home.

When I was contacted that I would have my own SITS day, I was overflowing with excitement.

SITS-tahs, if it’s your first time here, I suppose I should introduce myself and I will try not to be super wordy! My name is Shannon Pruitt and I created “MyNewFavoriteDay” because, I was alone and sad and terrified of my future as a mother to my twins who had been born 3 months premature. As I sat on the couch in our living room watching my then 18 month old daughter still on oxygen and worrying ince

ssantly about her significant and noticeable delays and looking over to my son who was full of life and on-track, I felt isolated and alone. We had gone through IVF after a VERY LONG time of not being able to get pregnant and although we had received a tremendous amount of love and support from family and friends through everything, I didn’t feel like anyone could understand what I was going through and so I decided to type. I had always been an optimistic person and able to find the silver lining and there was one silver lining to our situation which noone could argue with not even me, my children were alive. We had stared death in the face multiple times and we had won that war, so surely each day could be “MyNewFavoriteDay” because we are together as a family.

And with that first post a community of people swelled. Although I do blog often about family, life, parenting, being a working mom (now work from home mom as of 8 weeks ago), and E’s Special Needs, it’s all through the lens that no matter what we are going through we all experience the same emotions in life and we can all find a thread of relatability if not to the situation, then to the emotions we experience going through them.

This pretty much captures the joyful chaos that pervades our lives most days.

I tend to chronicle day-to-day things, emotions, events, and epiphanies that inspire me and that I hope will provide a little nugget of inspiration for folks that drop by cup of coffee, soda or vino in hand. I see “MyNewFavoriteDay” as a community where we can grab some space, grow, experience and occasionally have a laugh. Somewhere we can be happy, sad, hopeful, excited, frustrated, inspired and joyful sometimes in isolation and sometimes all in the same day!

Additionally, I also like to profile folks who inspire me in “MyNewFavoriteWeek’ly Inspiration” series. If you would like to read about some of the fascinating authors, winemakers, bloggers, jewerly-makers, etc. that I have profiled, you can see those posts here. If you would like to be featured or know someone who inspires you and you think should be featured, please feel free to email me at mynewfavoriteday@gmail.com

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There are some key players in this family that you will get to know if you spend some time here and they are my wonderful husband KSP, and our minis Q and E. They are my core and my everyday inspiration. Little smiles, gestures, glances and touches…while everyday isn’t easy and things are constantly changing my love for these people, my family, friends, writing, advocacy, keeping my mind stimulated and this community I can find the nugget to make each day “MyNewFavoriteDay.”

Meet my little bug Q, the rock of our family.

Meet my little E who can light up the sun.

As the quote above suggests, I hope you will find and share in this community ” ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing and inclusion.” Together we can go forward one foot in front of the other.

Thanks so much for visiting and for taking the time to be here out of your busy schedules! It means a lot to me and I wish all of you just a piece of the love and warmth I feel today and it will surely be ‘yournewfavoriteday!’

If you want to join us in trying to find the inspiration in each day, you can subscribe to the “MyNewFavoriteDay” RSS Feed, Follow me on Twitter, and join us on Facebook! If you are on Pinterest, we have set up camp there as well to spread the inspiration!

Again thanks for coming by and “Happy NewFavoriteDay!”

xoxo

Shannon

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About Shannon Pruitt from 'Mynewfavoriteday'

Welcome to 'mynewfavoriteday. This space is about gratitude and connecting through being open, vulnerable and real. I hope you will enjoy my take on motivation, inspiration and advocacy and will take the opportunity to tell me of your own thoughts and stories.
Why I started 'mynewfavoriteday.'
I am a childhood surviving, divorced, now happily married, IVF (and now natural pregnancy) success story, working mother of 2 amazing babies who were born 12 weeks premature. As life often seems to surprise you when you least expect it, we added another sweet baby girl M to our family in July of 2013. While our angel minis, Q and E are now 7 years old, our son, Q, has thrived while our daughter, E, has had a much more difficult journey. She is considered special needs and in September of 2012 was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Angelman Syndrome. And so, as she has grown, so do we as individuals and as family. How to help her, how to celebrate our differences while allowing ourselves to cope with the challenges that we never knew to expect. Thus, while much of this blog is based on our experiences (good and not-so-good), it is also based on how we must not let ourselves become victims of our circumstances but rather advocate in our own lives.
A little bit about me and who I am.
In my professional life I am a marketer in the Entertainment Industry; however, ‘mynewfavoriteday,’ was not born of entertainment or marketing but rather as a pathway to help myself and others as we try to define who we are as parents, family members, spouses, friends, colleagues and people. I believe in never judging a book by its cover. Every cover is different, and no matter what your cover looks like, you never know how someone's book is written. Like mine. From the outside, you might never know what truly makes me who I am or what I believe. This blog explores the pages on the inside of my book. My vulnerabilities, fears, happiness, and all my triggers through the lens of being grateful for all the amazing blessings I know I have received but sometimes forget in the challenges of daily life.
Thanks again for dropping by. I hope you will come back, subscribe, comment, share, and/or just hang out and be inspired or motivated to make each day for yourself or someone else 'anewfavoriteday.' By being here, you have certainly helped to make it mine.
xo,
Shannon

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67 Comments on “What a difference a year makes.”

Wonderful Shannon. I respect you and appreciate your open hearted warmth and honesty in your blog. I am new to blogging and finding my feet. I have started off very tentatively with some poems about emotions and experiences I have felt over the last few years. My Facebook page was my realisation that others benefitted from my words and pictures, blogging is a bit more personal and I need encouragement from like minded souls to help me on my way, personalising it. Love and light and heaps of thanks TK ❤

Thanks so much TK. It’s exciting to just begin your journey and you have the opportunity to take it at your own pace. You have much to share and just do what you are comfortable with and what’s unique and heartfelt for you and the rest will come. I am so happy you have come here and happy to support you as you begin your journey. ❤ Shannon

Love your site and your story and so happy to have found you through SITS. It’s our stories that make us all so unique and special and thank you for being so brave and sharing yours with all of us. I look forward to stalking…errr…reading you often 😉

LOL, thanks Lee. I LOVE stalkers…the blogging kind of course (to all other stalkers please ignore this comment:)) I agree our stories do make us unique and you really never know someone’s story just by looking at them which is why this bloggy space is so fun! Thanks for coming by.

Shannon, again – after reading your blog I feel touched and inspired by your courage to share what is most precious to you and at the same time most challenging. Thank you for your gift of inspiration coming from your heart.
Have you celebrated what you mastered, learned, and explored in that year? I am pretty new here and grateful to have found you. Enjoy and celebrate your personal growth through your lovely E and Q. Celebrate yourself for being so strong, open, loving, honest and authentic, and a wonderful mother to your children!

Thanks so much Sandra. I loving seeing you hear and I love this prompt telling me to celebrate my growth. With all that’s going on, even I sometimes forget to that as really this is the place where I really focus on me. Thank you for reminding me! I am glad you found me too and I am excited for you in your journey. It can be a crazy ride, but so joyous because we get to connect with wonderful people!

Shannon! Congrats on your SITS day! I read your blog all the time because I love your positivity. Your optimism shines through your writing and I find that it inspires me to view things in my own life more positively. The new readers you will get are sure to get hooked!

Congratulations on your SITS day! This just means you get to share you optimism, inspiration, and positive attitude to more people. Yay for that! I, for one, love everything you write. Love hearing about your minis, love your FB posts, love your attitude, and am thankful that somehow or another I found you a while back :).

Thanks for the dose of inspiration this morning! I appreciate you sharing your story. I always tell my co-workers that “everyday is a good day” to keep everyone positive in the office, so I love your phrase everyday is your “new favorite day”! And, thanks for the reminder to be grateful each day. Happy SITS Day to you! 🙂

What a wonderful way to share what you’ve learned and bond with others as well. Your children are BEAUTIFUL!!! I love to see people facing challenging times with an open heart and with much courage. You do it so well.

what a treat to discover u through SITS….I know I am going to be uber inspired today going through your posts….your courage and honesty shine so brightly and will surely impact everyone in your path….can’t wait to read more….keep shining sweet bella

Thanks so much! I am so happy you came by too. I perspective is a very wonderful gift and although at times it’s hard to keep it life seems to look and feel much better when it’s remembered. Thanks for the kind words about my minis, I love them and your comment warms my heart. Have a great day.

Thanks Carlo. What a lovely comment and I am so delighted you came by. I always love meeting like-minded people and it means a lot to me when people take time to come over and say hello! I hope you had a great day and some part of today was ‘yournewfavoriteday!’

Happy SITS Day!!!! I glad I was on Facebook and your post floated by… What a gift and do enjoy it… WooHoo! 🙂
I’m finally catching up on blogs! I’ll read/“Like” blog posts, but will come back to comment on other/future posts. Thanks for your patience! 🙂

Happy SITS Day! Oh, I wish I could have found you way back and told you about a place I work for, Graham’s Foundation – the whole mission is about helping preemie parents (esp. early preemie parents) feel less alone and connect with others! I guess your blog accomplished that, though 🙂

Christa! That would have been amazing and I will check it out even now and share it here as I really love providing resources for parents that have gone through any form of what we have been through. How lovely you used to work there! I am so happy you came by and I really appreciate your kindness!

Love this post….right to the heart:) You are such a “Blessings” to so many readers and people who know you and the trail you have been on. I do believe with all my heart that God will redeem and bless for E and Q’s life…and He will also heal your heart….and bring you peace:) I am working on my answers…will have them to you in a week…soon:) Looking forward to connecting with you and making a “Difference”…. in a “New Favorite Day With A New Difference….A Future And A Hope!”

Thanks so much Marcy. You are always so lovely and your words always lift me. I was planning to check in on your answers but that’s perfect and please just send them when you can. Hope you guys are having a nice weekend!

It is refreshing to see someone who is not afraid to tell it like it is, the good and the bad.
I don’t have much time tonight because it is late, but I will be back tomorrow to peek around a little more at your blog.

Thanks so much. It’s not always easy to be so honest, but these are the realities of our life and really the lives of so many. The situations may be different but we all experience good and bad. Thanks for coming by and I hope you will come back. That would be lovely. Have a great day!

About Me

My name is Shannon Pruitt and I am so grateful you have joined me here at 'mynewfavoriteday.' It is my hope that as you spend time on this blog, you will take the following reminders with you that will make you want to come back, subscribe, comment, and share 'mynewfavoriteday.' 1) Be "present" and recognize moments in your life so that moments don't pass you by and you can truly appreciate all you have in each day. 2) Count your blessings. Be grateful for family, friends, pets, things, a roof over your head, food to eat, your ability to laugh, or walk, or hear, or see. Reminding yourself of these things can be the first step in making each day 'yournewfavoriteday.' 3) Know you are not alone. While our experiences may be different the emotions that we experience whenever we struggle or are challenged are the same for they are the core human emotions of sadness, fear, loneliness, and yet we are all searching for the same emotions as well of hope, love, happiness, joy and peace. At 'mynewfavoriteday' you are never alone and you never know what you might find from my posts or other's comments that just might help you find a little more of those core emotions we all look for. 4) Use your voice. Remember you are your own best advocate and by using your voice you may inspire others or be inspired, so go ahead and speak up. 5) Be grateful. For each breath, for the opportunity to live. Be motivated and inspired that you have the chance to just be.

I hope today and everyday is 'yournewfavoriteday' and I thank you for visiting and sharing your thoughts, stories and inspiring words with me as it helps me beyond words. Sincerely, Shannon